Demon Territory
by AguaGirl
Summary: Izumi is a princess in love with a demon. She is willing to betray her family just so they can be together. However when she realizes that a Nymph who is able to manpulate fate is playing with destiny, she realizes that she might've just played into a trap. AU. Takumi.
1. A Chance Meeting

Izumi Orimoto sat on the balcony of her father's mansion, her blonde hair flowing in the wind. She blankly stared at the crowds coming in to the manor. She had been dreading this party for weeks. The party that had parents had planed to help find her a boy to _marry._ She did not want to be married, at least not to a high society kid. Her father did not approve, as do most Soceity Men when their daughter doesn't want to fall in love with a society boy.  
_  
_In the main room, Izumi was called for by her mother. "This is Izumi Orimoto, The Wind Princess!"As soon as those words leave her mother's mouth, the crowd turns to the stunning young girl. Her blonde hair was pinned up, into a beautifuly simple braid. No jewlery, no make-up, just Izumi. Her dress was not that intricate either, just a simple lilac ankle-length dress. It was obvious what her parents had deemed acceptable was not considered by Izumi.

Everyone gasped at Izumi, and the three princes were wide eyed. Two of the three boys were bright red, another looking away from the princess. He did not want to be there, obviously.

The first Prince was the Thunder Prince, Junpei. Two years older than Izumi, the boy had slicked back red hair, and golden-amber eyes. His outfit was standard for a Prince of Fifteen years, complete with the crown used for formal meetings. The customary colors of his kingdom were worn, yellow and dark blue.

The second prince was the Light Prince, Kouji. Just a bit younger than the princess, he was competeing with his own brother for the princess's heart. Raven-colored hair, pale skin, and bright eyes, the prince was dressed formally, even though his face is scarlet. Like Junpei, he wore his country's colors, raven blue and white.

The last, reluctant prince, was the Prince of Darkness, Kouichi. He was the twin of the Light Prince, and there was very little diference in the boys. Kouichi was obviously the older twin, the only true diference being hair length, and a blush. The Prince of Darkness obviously wanted to be somewhere else, as for he kept glancing at the window every once and a while. He wore his Kingdom's colors, purple and grey.

"And these, are the three princes, who will compete for my daughter's hand."The Wind King announces, replied by cheers.

Kouichi's eyes widen, now realizing how serious this was. He glanced back to the window, and sighed. Izumi saw this as odd, and thought about the circumstances. Anybody would be on edge when those words were announced.

When the dance came, a mysterious fourth prince came up, in red and orange. He had brown, spiky hair, and flaring auburn eyes. He was tan-ish, definately not from the high soceity of the Wind Kingdom(Or the surrounding kingdoms either), and a sweet smile. He didn't wear a crown like the other boys, but he didn't need it. He looked regal even though he acutally wasn't. He was not a prince. He was just a kid of the middle/lower class. He was Takuya Kanbara.

This new prince was catching Izumi's eye, his auburn eyes meeting her green eyes. The king did not like this new arrival, but did nothing to stop it. In his mind, Takuya was just another prince trying for his daughter's hand. As long as his family was rich, The King didn't care.

The music began, and so did the dance. Takuya, Kouichi, Kouji, and Junpei bowed to Izumi, as custom. After a few seconds of thought, Izumi looked over at Takuya. She thought he was familiar, and she was determined to figure it out. She held her hand out to him, and he gentlely held her hand as the crowd parted to where they could dance.

The song was slow, like the dance. People were utterly shocked at the beauty the simple couple brought. But back to the fuming princes. Kouji was the angriest, Kouichi seemed not to care, and Junpei was... well let's just say he went to another room to cool off.

At the end of the dance, Izumi was in love in with Takuya. Anyone could tell by her giggling. She never stopped smiling, even when the princes left. When all the people had left, she danced up the stairs, and into her bed room. And that's when the king heard the news.

"Sir."One servent whispers,"I don't believe the boy Izumi danced with was a prince."

"Yes,"Another servent agreed,"He is a peseant from around town. I've seen him stealing from the fruit cart."

"WHAT!"The king exclaims,"How did he get in!"

"No one knows."

"I must stop this, now."The king sturns away, mumbling.

Izumi recieved the news the next morning. She was devestated, and in raged. How could her parents forbade her from being with the boy she was in love with? She angerly stormed away, and out of the palace. She sped away until she couldn't run anymore. She noticed a small cave, and figured it was safe. When she walks in she notices a small girl curled up next to a fire.

She stood instantly,"Princess."She bows her head, revealing her scraggaly blue hair. She seemed exaughsted, over-worked for a girl her age. Her blue hair was tied back into ponytail, smudged with mud and what Izumi hoped wasn't blood.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."Izumi exclaims, backing away. She was a bit afraid of the blue-haired girl. Izumi had heard rumours of a nymph who lived in the cave system, but never believed in such silly gossip. There was no such thing as magic. But the truth was right in front of her.

"It's no bother."the girl replies, gathering a few things,"I was just leaving."She has a small bag thrown over her shoulder, and it seems lightly packed, "You look troubled."

Izumi is schocked. She didn't believe that her face showed emotion, but she must've looked distressed. "I guess I am."

The girl smiles,"Would you like to talk about it?"Sitting down in the fire's light, the girl looked just like a sweet homeless kid. Nothing magical about her.

"You don't want to hear my troubles."Izumi confides. "It'll just sound silly."

"It won't."The blue-haired girl reassures.

"If you say so."Izumi nods her head to the girl,"Well, you know that I have to be engaged to a prince before my fourteenth birthday. The arrangement began last night, and apparently, a boy from the middle class posed a prince. A-and, I think I fell in love with him."

The girl smiles for a moment, and nods her head,"I understand. I think you just need to think about it. Is your love worth betraying your family? Is your family worth leaving someone you think is _the one_?"

"I don't know. I feel like he's perfect, but my family doesn't want me to be in love with a pesant." Izumi looks at the girl, and shocked that she was listening intently. "Why do you care?"

"I never hear this kind of stuff. Remember, I live in these caves."The girl explains.

"Why?"

"No one likes a nymph."The girl says, her mood darkening. She hides a bit in the shadows of the cave, realizing what she had admitted.

"What's a Nymph?"Izumi questions,"No one in the palace belives in legends, so they aren't told."

"I'm no legend, obviously."The girl says. "I am just... a freak."

"But you seem.. normal." Izumi remarks. She will later regret saying this.

"Normal."She repeats. "I'm not normal... It's weird. I look and feel human. But I'm not. I'm a demon. A fish."

"A fish?"Izumi questions.

"A Nymph is just a Demon that when they were born were infused with... Well, fish and water magic..."The girl explains.

"So... That makes you part fish?"Izumi snickers.

"What's so funny?!"The Girl growls.

"Nothing."Izumi says, gathering her thoughts,"What is your name?"

The girl perks up, her ears finally showing. They were green fins. "R-Ren."She mutters.

"Well, Ren, it was nice to meet you."Izumi replies, and then begins to leave. Little did she know that the Nymph behind her was going to set in motion a prophecy that would change her fate forever...


	2. Castle in The Distance

The blonde princess snuck out in the middle of the night. She climbed down from the window, falling the last three feet. Breathing the night air, she smiled, green eyes brightening in the full moonlight. Izumi began running, running faster than the wind. She has no idea where she was going, in fact she did not care for that matter. A boy with brown, caramel hair and amber, firey eyes notice her running, and he sprints toward her. They meet in a clearing, as some shadow rushes towards them, to kill.

Ren bolted upwards, gasping for air, "Another vision... What on Earth have I done?" she whispers, then looking up at the moon. It was only half full, "I only have half a month..." the brown haired nymph mutters, and begins to pack her things again, orgainizing it different ways before finally being sastified. Again, she mutters, "What have I done?"

_"You changed Fate, fool. Now live up to it, and join me."_

"Shut up." Ren growls, then begining to walk on, "_I must find them, warn them of the trouble." _

* * *

"Takuya, when do you think I should sneak out, and... well, you know..." Izumi whispers.

"The full moon would be the best," Takuya tells her, running his fingers through her hair, "We'd be able to see easier."

"That would make sense... But how're we going to hide the fact I'm a princess." She places her head on shoulder, tiredly.

Takuya thinks for a moment, "Peasent clothing, we'll have to chop some of your hair off-"

"What? Why?"

Takuya laughs, "Because, peasant girls rob. It's hard to steal from someone when your hair is long enough to attract all eyes. You'd stick out..."

Izumi nods, "Takuya?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't belive we're doing this."

"And I can't belive how lucky we are. We're not dead yet."

* * *

The next day, Izumi's hair was a messy bob cut with some blonde hairs much longer than most of her hair, and still _somehow _looked a bit regal. Most of the servants assured the king that it was just a phase that all teenagers go through. Sighing and frowning, he permits Izumi to go into the town, something she did daily. Giddily, she ran out of the castle, past the city gates, and into the town. Unlike the day before, people's eyes slid over her, like Takuya had expected.

"What'd I tell 'ya!" He exclaimed after the two met up in the middle of town. "It never fails, people recognize you by the hair!"

Izumi giggles, and then asks, "Did you... you know, bring the clothes?"

Takuya arked his eyebrow, "Like I would let you down?" He asks sarcastically, handing her a small package under his arms. Izumi smiles, and steps into an alleyway for a few seconds. When Izumi emerges, the sellers suddenly take an immense intrest in the count of their stock.

"How do I look?" Izumi laughs, obviously meaning her comment as a joke.

"Perfect." Takuya breathes.

Not hearing his comment, Izumi turns away from Takuya, seeing a small person walking hasitly towards them. "Who's that?" Takuya whispers in her ear.

"I don't know." Izumi remarks blankly, "Looks familiar, to tell the truth."

The person rushing by them drops a paper, and then disapearing back into the crowds. It seemed as if this person's only purpose was to drop that paper. Takuya, curious, picked the paper up, and read. It read, in big, loopy writing:  
_"Please come to Hope Peak on the night of the Full Moon. Your lives may very well depend on it."  
_  
"Who would've dropped this?" He questioned, handing to Izumi to read.

"Someone who's worried about something." She responds, tiredly.

Takuya put his arm around Izumi, "Well, Princess, whoever it is can be declined. That cuts into our travel plans, don't it?" He winked, laughingly.

* * *

Within fifteen days, it was time for them to head for a different country. Silently, Izumi creeped down the side of the wall, and dropped into the forest. Her peasent clothes made her blend with the dead wood of the trees. On the other side of the clearing, Takuya stood in wait, unknowingly luring Izumi into a trap.

They joined in the clearing, smiling as their predator watched. The predator lay in the bushes, enjoying the calmness of his prey. Izumi and Takuya were unsuspecting. A shadow, the predator, dashed towards them. A bewildered, yet horrified, scream was let out by someone, as the predator swung his claws. It was a misty, shadowy form. This predator didn't give his identity. At any moment, it could materalize. It could only kill when in flesh, of course. Mist could not kill, not directly.

"You ignorant fools." The predator taunted, "Should've listened to the nymph. Would've saved your lives." At that, the mist began to take a shape. The figure of a boy, the height of Takuya. Firstly, blank, blue eyes appeared, then he suddenly began to materalize. Purple and black clothings, he appeared at first just a person blending into the night. But, as soon as they laid eyes on his blue hair, Izumi and Takuya knew that this was no commoner. The Prince of Darkness himself, Kouichi.

Before any other reaction could be taken, Takuya's eyes flared to life in anger. Rage consumed his sense, and he charged at Kouichi, allowing fire to slip from his fingertips. Kouichi slipped pass him, dissolving to mist and reforming beside the firey boy. This process was repeated through out their fight, leaving a very exaughsted Takuya and very amused Kouichi.

That left Izumi. Never had the princess been in a fight, she was now forced to try and fend off this impecable warrior. The boy, tired of dodging, pulls two, blood-red sowrds from their sheaths, slowly walking towards the blonde, her shortened hair still making her look nothing like the princess he was slaying.

Just as he lifted his sword, a sudden cloaked figure stepped into the clearing. Face shadowed by the navy-blue cloak, the figure's only defining trait was the trident she/he bared. Tiny compared to Kouichi, but the true nature of the attacker was very mysterious. Takuya worried that this was an assasion, sent by Demon Slayers.

Kouichi, however, smirked, "Ah, my dear, you made it." He materilized behind Izumi, putting a sword around her throat, "I thought you were going to miss it."

The figure retorted, "What, no fight? Am I not good enough for your flashy blade?" The figure was most definitely female, her voice was very affirmative of that. She held the trident diagnoally across her body, waiting and anticipating an attack.

He sighed. He could never resist a good fight. "My dear, why didn't you say you came for a fight?" He pulled his other sword from Izumi's neck, throwing her to the ground, "Like to make things interesting, I see."

The figure, still with her trident held defensively across her body, remarked snidely, "Well, anyone with eyes could see that a trident is a weapon. What," She snorted with laughter, "did you think I was going to kill the boy for you?"

Takuya, still lying on the ground, groaned and moaned, tiredly. Though defenseless, he could plainly see he wasn't the objective of attack. Neither was Izumi, for the moment. Gaurd's screams for the princess could be heard, as the first of the clashing started. Two swords were held against a trident, starting to dent the silver.

The girl, breathing heavily, broke away from the stalemate. Though at one point covering her face, the hood decided to fall backwards when she jumped back. Dark brown hair flew across her face, hazel eyes and tan skin to match. She wore black pants and a black tank-top under her blue cloak. Swinging her trident again, she found that she barely missed her target, who decieded to dissapear at that moment, and reappear right behind her.

"Come on, are you truly fighting fate?" He whispered in her ear, as she swung her trident at him, only to hit the mist.

Reappearing next to her, Kouichi got close to her, "All of your deaths are innevittible, why try and conceal it? Just let it be." He disolved again, as she plainly went to slap him.

Finally, reapearing on a tree branch, Kouichi stood over the feild in which his prey awaited. While looking at the battered Izumi, the exaughsted Takuya, and the cut-up Ren, he smirked, "I'll let you fools live. Just once, as a gift. Be glad Ren appeared as she did. I would not have as much mercy." And...

He was gone.

* * *

Within seconds of Kouichi's departure, Ren began to move quickly, gathering the two fallen allies. Izumi was gratefully uninjured, but Takuya was covered in scrapes from falling into the pitfalls of rage so much. "What did he mean, that he would've been less mericful if you hadn't appeared?" Izumi asked as she saw Ren grab a rag, in which its whole purpose was to hold pressuse to cuts.

Flustered and annoyed, Ren only answered with a shrug. Trying to get over the fight, Izumi paced the clearing, terrified every time a gaurd's voice passed by.

After a few times of Izumi circling the clearing, Takuya began to awaken. "Wh-what happened? Why was I fighting Kouichi?"

Ren, still holding the rag to his forehead, "It's a long story. I'll explain fully when we're someplace not surrounded by gaurds, but basically, Kouichi attacked, you got mad, stormed him and failed miserably, I tried to stop him from killing Izumi, he ran."

Takuya winced as she took the pressure off his head. She stood, saying, "We've got to get to the Demon Territory before anyone finds us. That's past _his _power range." She turned to Izumi, "You will have to deal with Takuya in his demon form, though..."

Izumi's eyes widened, "You're a -"

"Yeah... I forgot to mention that." Takuya looked down, "It's not like I'm some monster or something... Just, a Salamander..."

Ren jumped in to explain, "Basically, he can controll fire. Nothing to worry about." She added hastily.

Izumi looked at them both, "What's the difference between Demon and the form he's in right now?" She questions.

Takuya played with the sand on the ground, "Just appearances. I'm not like others who turn into..." He trailed off.

Ren nodded her head, understandingly. "It'll be all right, Izumi. We'll only be in Demon Territory long enough to recover full strength. Then, you can both go where ever."

Both loked inquisitive now, "What would you do?"

Ren looked indifferent, "I have bussiness there. Nothing major."

Izumi and Takuya accepted that answer. They all headed off in scilence, avoiding gaurds as they went, the castle in the distance, look over at them with scorn.

* * *

Kouichi slept on the ground that night. He was drained from using his lended powers that night. Normally, a fight with Ren would be a smooth process, but the full moon amplifyed her powers, and she was able to take hits better. If it had been any other days, mark his words, she would've went down with one or two hits to the head. Or that weak knee.

_It was a day before they were enemies when he found out about her knee. Their place, as they called it, was Hope Peak, where they'd sit, talk, and watch waves. They were supposed to be seperate, their kingdoms. Bad blood between her mother, Agua, and his father, Dusk. He'd never met his father, but that bad blood was extremely thick._

That particular day, they decided to spar each other with their extremely weak elemental skill. Ren could move spouts of water; Kouichi could make it dark. They truly were not capable of what they were capable of in the present. Their mock fight was light, until he struck her knee, with a small bit of concentrated darkness, as he was being taught. She crumpled to the ground; he raced over to get her.

"Are you all right?" He exclaimed.

"Owwww..." She moaned, "Had to hit.." she took a wince of pain, ".. the weak knee."

While helping her to the cliff edge to sit, she began to explain that when she was younger, she had badly damaged her knee through repeatedly falling onto it over the course of a few months. It was odd, her way of explaining it, as if she were an adult. The two were seven then. "Promise you won't hit me there again, Kouichi?" She questioned, holding her hand out.

"Promise." Kouichi said, quite firmly back then.

In the present, Kouichi rolled over onto his side, to watch the animals in the forest dart by. He was starting to feel the true waves of pain of over using his powers. They were not his powers, per se. His true powers, the ones that he was born with, were not as dark as his 'Prince of Darkness' title would imply. Simpily, he could control the energy that came from the darkness of shadows and night. The mist powers, those were _his._

_He_ was Dusk, Kouichi's father. Back when he was younger, they were kept apart for very good reasons. Dusk was, as many know, a true demon. One that took the blood of his victims to drink. When turning ten, he was contacted, and trusted the man claiming to be his father. Given dark powers, Kouichi slowly began to become quite evil.

While watching the animals, her felt a pang of hunger in his stomach. It had been a while since he had eaten. He was too tired to try to hunt, he decided, when he could barely stand. Just let himself fall asleep.

_He and Ren were asleep on Hope Peak. It wasn't the past. It was the present. She still wore her cloak, that she was using as a blanket over the both of them. His eyes were blank still. Ren must've known, right? Looking around, Kouichi decided that the area was empty._

"You're dreaming." A voice told him in his mind. He realised that something as perfect as Hope Peak, in the present, alone, was impossible. A dark cloud covered his dream, and he slept on dreamlessly.

Kouichi awoke in the morning, tiredly standing. "_Time to follow them, Kouichi. They are attempting to reach Demon Territory. I can not reach them there."_

Begining to shuffle to his feet, Kouichi followed the trail down river. They were bound to follow it to get into the territory. It would take many weeks for them to reach the border of Demon Territory. "I have to do this." He whispered to himself, allowing one last look at the castle of Wind. He was leaving an area he'd known all his life. Kouichi was exceptionally glad.


End file.
